Swiss tourist beaten up in Nepal for refusing to offer ‘donation’

KATHMANDU (eTN) — Cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which is now part of a peace process ending its 10-year insurgency, beat up a Swiss tourist in western Nepal when the tourist rejected their demand for a “donation,” a tourism official said Thursday.

Steve Jeanneret, 31, a Swiss student, was beaten up with bamboo sticks by two Maoist cadres in Kaski district on Wednesday after he refused to provide them with a “donation,” Sharad Pradhan, media officer at Nepal Tourism Board, said. Jeanneret’s trekking agency in Kathmandu said that the Maoists stopped Jeanneret and his tour guide and told him to pay them 1,800 Nepalese rupees ($28) for his 18-day trek as a “trekking fee.”